Review of drivers for transmission investment decisions

The Technical Brochure reviews the main reasons for investment in transmission infrastructure and the role of the technical planning criteria in identifying the need for investment.

The analysis identified the majority of transmission capital investments were expansion, new builds for the purposes of ensuring security of supply. This was true for all regions analysed and regardless of the industry ownership model. The Technical Planning Criteria was the primary driver of transmission reinforcement.

Suggested future work has been identified to assess the implication of likely changes to transmission system planning criteria; cost benefit analysis; the role of future demand growth and power system size; and the impact of micro grids on future investment in main transmission grid.